WESTPORT, CT (Reuters Health) Aug
13 - In experiments with cells from the skin of mice and humans, researchers
at McGill University in Montreal have been able generate both neural and
mesodermal cells. This suggests that skin might be a source of autologous
stem cells for transplantation. Their report appears in the September issue
of Nature Cell Biology.

"In both mice and humans, we have
been able to isolate what appear to be multipotent stem cells from the
dermis of skin," lead researcher Dr. Freda D. Miller told Reuters Health.
These stem cells, which the researchers term skin-derived precursors (SKPs),
are relatively abundant in the skin, so one needs only a small sample to
isolate them.

Dr. Miller and colleagues found that
SKPs proliferate well and are able to generate cells of both neural and
mesodermal lineage. Cells from the neural lineage "give rise to cells that
look like neurons and glia," she said, "while on the mesodermal lineage,
they produce smooth muscle cells and adipocytes."

SKPs are more accessible than muscle
and bone marrow stem cells and also seem to be more easily multipotent,
she continued. "Most adult stem cells seem to be strongly tissue-biased.
The difference with these cells is that they seem to be quite promiscuous."
One reason for that, is that dermis contains cells of many different kinds.

In terms of potency, Dr. Miller said
that these skin cells fall somewhere in the middle between embryonic stem
cells and stem cells from muscle or bone marrow.

"In the 'dream' situation, you would
have a patient with, say, a spinal cord injury, and you could take a piece
of their skin and isolate these cells, expand them, and use them to treat
the patient," Dr. Miller explained.

"We are taking the human data and
starting to really see if the human cells are the same as the rodent cells,"
Dr. Miller told Reuters Health. "We are also doing a lot of transplant
work," she said.

"In vivo, we are trying to find out
how multipotential these cells are and whether they will integrate into
tissues. We are placing a particular emphasis on producing cardiac cells
and pancreatic islet cells."